Method and apparatus for making zipper tape



y 1947- B. CROMPTON 3 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ZIPPER TAPE Filed Nov. 4, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Benjamin flaw D2501? July 1, 1947- B. CROMPTON METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ZIPPER TAPE Filed Nov. 4, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet '2 INVENTOR Ben amin Cram Dion BY gTTORN Y y 1947- B. CROMPTON METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING Z IPPER TAPE Filed Nov. 4, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Benjamin Cmm nion ATTOR! y 1947- B. CROMPTON 2,423,293

IIETHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ZIPPER TAPE Filed Nov. 4, 1944 4 Sheets$heet 4 a Amwma Patented July 1, 1947 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ZIPPER TAPE Benjamin Crompton, Pawtucket, R. I., assignor to The Clark Thread Company, a corporation of Delaware Application November 4, 1944, Serial No. 561,955

This invention relates to so-called zipper or slide fastener tape, such tape having a fabric body portion by which it is attached to the article to which the fastener is to be applied, and, adjacent one edge, a bead portion forming an ancho: for the fastener elements or scoops.

Heretofore, a common practice in making such tapes has been to weave the body portion of the tape separately and then to stitch the bead to it, the bead comprising either a cord or narrow woven strip. This method has the disadvantages of requiring careful handling during stitching to insure correct alinement of the bead with the tape edge and also of requiring several operations to complete the finished tape. Another method, in which the cost and care required are likewise factors, has been to weave the bead portion in the form of a tube along the edge of the tape and enclosing a cord which serves to fill out and give the necessary body or rigidity to the woven tube. In still another method, the bead has been formed by a number of separate cords laid continuously along the edge of the tape, or above and below it, and caught in by stitches or filling picks at spaced intervals.

The primary object of the present invention is a method and means for producing an ail-woven tape, that is, a tape in which the bead portion, complete, is woven as part of the operation of weaving the body portion and without the familiar tube and filler cord, thereby eliminating 6 Claims. (Cl. 139-54) stop motion (not shown) to and through the heddle eyes 4 and 5. reed (not shown), past the shuttle 6 and into the work or woven tape 1. The tape then passes downward over breast roll .8 to roll 9. The lay is indicated at ill.

While the details of the loom structure are unimportant except to the extent hereinafter indicated, Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate a typical, appropriate installation in which the shuttle travels back and forth in the arcuate tracks I I, i2 formed in the spaced track members l3, 14 secured to the top of the lay 10. The shuttle is driven the need for the desired ancillary operations heretofore required and coincidently insuring a uniform product capable of manufacture at minimum cost.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which is illustrated a preferred application of the invention.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a side-elevational diagram indicating the application of the invention to conventional loom elements; Figs. 2 and 3 are, respectively, broken-out elevational and plan views of parts of a typical loom appropriate for carrying out the invention; Figs. 4 and 5 are, respectively, an elevation and a horizontal section enlarged iron the scale of Fig. 1 and further illustrating the invention; and Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive are diagrams illustrative of the weaving Referring first to Fig. 1, from the beam I a number of ends 2 appropriate for the weaving of the body portion of the desired tape pass upward over roll I and then forward through the usual through its depending arcuate rack l5 by pinions l5 and rack iii, the latter being mounted to reciprocate in a guide way in the top of the lay. The shuttle carries bobbin ll from which the filling I8 is laid into the warps. As indicated, the warp ends 2 pass forward between the spaced track members l3, it. Being of standard construction further description of these basic elements is unnecessary.

According to the present invention means is provided for establishing what for convenience will be referred to as an auxiliary shed, composed of a number of warp ends of a size appropriate to form the bead portion of the tape in the mannerto be described. This auxiliary shed is established close to the edge of the tape and, for the sake of symmetry, comprises an even number of ends, preferably and as shown, four; that is, two upper and two lower ends forming the shed. Such ends are marked i9, 20, 2| and 22. In the position they occupy in Figs. 1 and 4, the ends 20 and 2! form the upper and ends l9 and 22 the lower part of the shed.

These ends are supported by a suitable spreader by which they are spaced in pairs, above and below the work and equally from each other, and from which spreader they converge to and are woven into the tape.

In this preferred form the spreader comprises a disk-like or flat ring 23 arranged at an appropriate distance behind the harnesses and mounted to rotate in a plane paralleling the warps 2. As diagrammatically illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the ring 23 is shown mounted between two, fixed, spaced supports 24, 25 and is rotatably supported therein by marginal ribs 28. The periphery of ring 23 is provided with teeth 21 which are engaged by the teeth of a drive pinion 28. auxiliary warp ends pass through equally spaced holes 29 in ring 23, with the result that intermittent rotation of the ring (as by the harness operating mechanism or any other appropriate means) alternately raises and lowers successive The pairs of ends to close the shed, as below described in greater detail. The ring drive pinion 28 is suitably actuated from the loom drive, the timing of the closing of the auxiliary shed by step-bystep rotation of ring 23 being correlated to the speed of the loom to float the auxiliary shed ends over a predetermined number of filling picks.

An important feature peculiar to this preferred application of the invention resides in the manner in which the auxiliary warp ends are supplied and manipulated, as will now be described.

As shown in Fig. 1, there is provided an auxiliary warp beam 30 which is the source of supply of the ends I B, 20, 2|, and 22. However, these ends are not carried individually by the beam but twisted together to form, initially, the single warp end 3| and in this form they are withdrawn from the beam 30, as over roller 32. At or adjacent roller 32 the individual ends are separated and led to the spreader, diverging to it and then converging tothe work, as above stated and as illustrated in Fig. 1.

The spreader 23 is arranged to be rotated in such direction as to untwist the ends [9, 20, 2| and 22 from their initial, single-warp form, with the result that what the spreader does is to transfer the twist of the individual ends from their point of divergence (adjacent roller 32) to their point of convergence (at the work). These ends are therefore laid into the tape in a continuous twist, commensurate with the initial twist put into the ends in their single-warp form, as at SI, thereby producing a firm and uniform bead. While it is not feasible to illustrate the twist per se the action will be understood by those skilled in the art.

When four auxiliary warp ends are utilized, as illustrated, the spreader is advanced by quartertum steps, i. e. a quarter turn following each of a predetermined number of fillin picks so as to float the auxiliary warp ends over a number of filling threads. Closing the auxiliary shed after each four picks has been found to produce highly satisfactory results, the finished bead having the general appearance illustrated in Fig. 5. While the body of the tape is there shown as of a plain weave, any of the usual twill or herringbone weaves can be'used.

What takes place during such quarter turns of the spreader ring will be briefly described first with reference to Fig. 4. Assuming the shuttle has just made four picks, the first quarter turn of the ring 23 in the direction of the arrow closes the shed by raising end [9 and lowering the end 21. During this movement of the ring the other two ends 20 and 22 slide through their holes in the ring and, in effect, are moved to the respective positions vacated by the ends it and 2|. Following four more picks, the next quarter turn similarly raises end 22 and lowers end 20, coincidentally moving ends l9 and 25 to the positions vacated by ends 22 and 2B. A sequence of such steps is diagrammatically illustrated in Figs. 6 to 9 and from which the method of weaving-in the auxiliary grids will be apparent. In these diagrams, Fig. 6 represents a stage at which the spreader ring is about to make a quarter-turn advance, in the direction of the arrow, the ends [9, 20, 2! and 22 occupying the indicated positions with respect to the two groups of four picks marked 33 and 3 3. By such quarter-turn advance the ends are moved to the positions shown in Fig. 7, and, at the conclusion of the spreader movement, four more picks 35 are added. Then, another quarter turn of the spreader moves the ends to thepositions shown in Fig. 8, followin which movement four more picks 3B are added. The nextquarter turn moves the ends to the positions shown in Fig. 9, following which movement four more picks 31 are added. As will be seen, the next quarter turn would restore the ends to the positions shown in Fig. 6, completing one revolution of the spreader.

In the course of these movements the auxiliary ends are necessarily moved about one another, that is, crossed over and over, with the result that they are woven into the tape, rope fashion, asindicated in Fig. 5, and in identical form on both sides of the tape.

In addition to the advantages heretofore pointed out, it may be noted that by the method described it is possible to form the bead edge of quite hard-twisted cords. This presents no dif iiculties in the weaving process, whereas such cords are extremely difficult to attach to the tape by sewing due to their resistance to needle penetration.

In the light of the foregoing description the following is claimed:

1. In the weaving of zipper tapes, the method of interweaving with the tape body a number ofwarp ends twisted with respect to each other, which includes the steps of twisting the said number of ends together to form a single warp on an auxiliary beam, withdrawing the said warp from its beam in a manner to cause th ends to diverge individually from the single warp and then converge to the tape being woven to form an auxand intermittently moving the ends the single-warp twist point iliary shed, about each other to transfer thereof from the point of divergence to the of convergence of the ends.

2. In the weaving of zipper tapes, the method of interweaving with the tape body a number of warp ends twisted with respect to each other, which includes the steps of twisting the said number of ends together to form a single warp on an auxiliary beam, withdrawing the said warp from its beam in a manner to cause the ends to diverge individually from the single warp and then converge to the tape being woven to form an auxiliary shed, and intermittently untwisting the ends from their single-warp form and twisting the ends about each other at their said point of convergence.

3. In the weaving of zipper tapes, the method of interweaving with the tape body a number of warp ends twisted with respect to each other, which includes the steps of twisting the said number of ends together to form a single warp on an auxiliary beam, withdrawing the said warp from its beam in a manner to cause the ends to diverge individually from the single warp and then converge to the tape being woven to form an auxiliary shed, and intermittently and simultaneously moving the ends about each other to close the auxiliary shed, untwist the ends from their single-warp form and twist the ends about each other at their said point of convergence.

4. The combination in aloom of an auxiliary warp beam having a single warp thereon consisting of an even number of ends twisted together, means for forming an auxiliary shed of said ends comprising a rotatable spreader adapted to receive and space the said ends above and below the plane of the work and equally from each other about the spreader, and means for rotating the spreader in a direction to untwist the said single warp and coincidently close the auxiliary 76 shed.

5. The combination in a loom of an auxiliary warp beam having a single warp thereon consisting of an even number of ends twisted together, a spreader mounted for rotation in a plane paralleling the loom warps, said spreader having circumferentially-spaced perforations for receiv ing the individual ends of the said single warp and spacing the same above and below the plane of the work to form an auxiliary shed, and means for rotating the spreader in a direction to untwist the said single warp and coincidently close the auxiliary shed.

6. The combination in a loom of an auxiliary warp beamhaving a single warp thereon consisting of an even number of ends twisted together, means for forming an auxiliary shed of said ends comprising a rotatable spreader adapted to receive the said ends individually and spaced from each other about the spreader and means for rotating the spreader in a direction to untwist 20 the said single warp.

BENJAMIN CROMPTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are' of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

